"Six Feet Under"

[Valley Oak]

My family is watching the series "Six Feet Under" and it is a fantastic show! Few series are super realistic, super funny, and super sad like this one. Very entertaining and informative. I strongly recommend this series, which we are lending from the local library. If your local library doesn't have it in stock then they can order for you from a library that does. Most public libraries are linked in a cooperative network.

Has anyone else here also seen the SFU series? What do you think of it? Do you have strong recommendations yourself of other series or movies?

Thanks,

Edward

[oliviathunderkitty]

It is very hard to adjust to life after Six Feet Under. It is such an extraordinary series in so many ways. And forever after you'll get to make new friends when the topic comes up; avid fans love discussing 1)their favorite deaths and 2)their favorite characters. Great silly fun.

I found the first season of 24 very compelling. I also love The Shield. If you've not seen Homicide: Life on the Streets, check it out. Wonderful.

But, really, nothing compares to Six Feet Under.

[Barry]

I also loved Six Feet Under! Alas, I've seen it all (as it were...). I, too, miss it, Michele. I've started watching the Sopranos (I'm in the second season), and while its very good, it still doesn't match the richness of SFU.

When watching SFU, I suggest you pay particular attention to the title of the episode and see how that theme plays out along all the plot lines.

[Valley Oak]

I think I like all of the characters but if I had to choose a pet hate it would have to be Brenda's mom, what a jerk! And she's supposed to help people as a therapist? Jeeez. Any client of hers is bound to end up with more problems than before.

I saw the episode last night where Claire has her first and only bi-curious experience and learns that Lesbianism is not her cup of tea. I thought it was really cool for a widely aired program to so openly deal with Lesbian roles and issues. I'll never forget when the STNG community (Star Trek the Next Generation) publicly begged science fiction author, Gene Rodenberry, to include openly gay characters in the series. Rodenberry, apparently, could not oblige his huge following (numbering probably in the millions world wide) because of business decisions that were out of his hands and also because of conservative social and political pressures (where in the hell is freedom of speech in this country).

Also, SFU (Six Feet Under) was aired in private (pay) channels, not in the mainstream networks available for 'free' on 'public' television (there is no large public TV in the U.S. unless you mention PBS, which is pretty castrated by social conservatives and politicians). Obviously, private channels such as HBO and many others can offer a pure market product. If you don't want to see it then you don't pay for it. But 'public' TV channels have always been under a firm stranglehold of heavy censorship, which will never let up. Only the private channels can offer a true market of commodities in entertainment and other products.

In European countries, the situation is reversed regarding huge public funds completely financing many truly public TV channels, where nudity and many other subjects (subjects that are taboo in the U.S.) are publicly accepted forms of entertainment. These channels do not depend in the least of any private financing (such as commercials, etc) and yet they are more liberal and open!

The deadly aspects of SFU are not the highlights for me. What I like is the hyper realism, true to life content of the show, dealing openly with all issues: politics, sex, drugs, money, morals, religion, etc, etc, etc. Very well done in this regard. It is a well balanced program all the way around and I have never seen or heard of another production that equals it.

I wrote a long piece on the series, '24,' and I have to rummage through the archives in the list to find it so you can read it if you are interested. My take on '24' is very negative and I speak from experience because I watched many of the shows along with friends and family. Here is the link, I believe:
https://www.waccobb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=29964

Thanks for your input!

Edward

It is very hard to adjust to life after Six Feet Under. It is such an extraordinary series in so many ways. And forever after you'll get to make new friends when the topic comes up; avid fans love discussing 1)their favorite deaths and 2)their favorite characters. Great silly fun.

I found the first season of 24 very compelling. I also love The Shield. If you've not seen Homicide: Life on the Streets, check it out. Wonderful.

But, really, nothing compares to Six Feet Under.

[oliviathunderkitty]

Think I'll skip the long post on 24 for now but thanks for the referral. It's so long ago that I watched it and I saw it as simple good entertainment--smart, fast-paced, unusually structured. It was my weekly dose of adrenaline and testosterone, harmless enough in small doses. The lines between reality and fiction never blurred for me and I found all the talk in the news about subsequent seasons disturbing. Fiction, folks!

But I digress . . . this is a thread about Six Feet Under.

As far as episode titles go, sometimes it is fun to change one to reflect a particular moment. Ecotone, for example, will always be Here Kitty Kitty to me (and I mean no disrespect to my favorite character, Nate; it was his episode but still, that cougar scene is hilarious).

One of the great things about the show, I think, is the mix of black humor and profound seriousness.

And I have to say, I love Brenda's mother. I wouldn't want her in my life in any way whatsoever, but as far as characters in fiction go, she is absolutely brilliant.

Time to start looking for a deal on the boxed set, I think . . .

[Bri Brownlow]

I LOVE SFU. I watched it religiously when I had HBO, and was so devastated to have to wait until it was out on DVD after we didn't have HBO anymore. Don't know if you've gotten to this episode yet, but in season 4, episode 5 is called "That's My Dog". It is one of the most devastating and emotionally intense things I've ever seen on tv. Just want to warn you to make sure you watch that episode with someone else, and make sure you don't have to sleep in an empty house after you watch it. I won't say anymore about it, but it stuck with me a good year or two after I saw it.

Michael C. Hall as David is one of the best characters I've ever seen. Now, I hold gay characters in film and tv up to "David" standards, and relationships up to "David and Keith" standards. Such realism in all it's gritty intensity.

Speaking of Michael C. Hall, he's in a new show on Showtime that is phenomenal. It's called "Dexter". Again, very intense premise about death, but incredibly smart and well written. I highly recommend it to people who aren't too squeamish. Once you start to go through SFU withdrawls after finish the series, I suggest you rent the first season of Dexter. The second season has aired on Showtime, but it's not out on video yet. Fantastic psychological dramedy.

[Becky]

I LOVE SFU. I watched it religiously when I had HBO, and was so devastated to have to wait until it was out on DVD after we didn't have HBO anymore. Don't know if you've gotten to this episode yet, but in season 4, episode 5 is called "That's My Dog". It is one of the most devastating and emotionally intense things I've ever seen on tv. Just want to warn you to make sure you watch that episode with someone else, and make sure you don't have to sleep in an empty house after you watch it. I won't say anymore about it, but it stuck with me a good year or two after I saw it.

My hubby and I just watched this episode not even 2 hours ago. WOW We grew up in LA so as David went to pick up the hitch hiker DH and I both said at the same time "no way, you just don't do that in LA"

We just started watching this series and are hooked. Every week on my DH day off we will sit through 3 DVDs of the series. I love love love the show.

Before SFU we were into Rescue Me and just finished Sopranos. I hated how Sopranos ended but really enjoyed the whole series. I also watch 24 and LOST and haven't missed an episode yet. Thank goodness for high speed internet.

[oliviathunderkitty]

I agree, Michael C. Hall is an amazing actor. As far as Dexter goes, it debuted last night (Sunday, February 17) on network TV, ABC, I think. I'm not sure if it was the very first episode from Showtime or a composite of the first couple of episodes, but it's the same series, with the realistic language cut. I don't like it anywhere near as much as Six Feet Under but it is possible to pretend that David has a new job as an actor. That helps if you're a total SFU junkie, as I am.